


Not So Secret Identity

by Business_Inator99



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, No Beta, Plot, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), Spider-Man: Far From Home Spoilers, We Die Like Men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-06-24 07:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19718680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Business_Inator99/pseuds/Business_Inator99
Summary: Mysterio was dead but his illusions remained. He convinced The Daily Bugle that Spider-Man was a villain and they convinced a fair share of people of this too. Now Peter Parker was being framed for murder and a terrorist attempt, and he will need all the help he can get to get out of this mess.But there was one thing he couldn't fix — the world now knew that he was Spider-Man.





	1. Accusation

**Author's Note:**

> After seeing Spider-Man two times and reading fanfiction I thought I ought to contribute to this fandom too.

" _Spider-Man's name is Peter Parker_ " 

Everyone looked surprised at the screens featuring the photo of the sixteen-year-old.  It was being broadcasted on TV, and from their homes many recognized the boy as the nice kid that lived in Queens with his aunt. It was shocking to imagine that behind his pretty face were to hide a despicable villain.

"Fuck!"  exclaimed Peter when the people started to swarm him with questions and accusations of being evil. He needed to leave, but not without MJ. Using one of his webs to grab her, they swung away

"Peter! What the hell are you doing?!" she screamed.

"I need to see if May is alright!" said he.

"It looks like you kidnapped me, you idiot!"

"I'm sorry I wasn't thinking!"

They arrived at Peter's house a couple of minutes later where a very nervous May Parker stood in the living room.

"Are you okay, May?" asked Peter as soon as he took off his mask, hugging her.

She leaned in the touch.  Her nephew had  been framed  for all those awful things and her brain couldn't help but jump to the worse kind of conclusions very  quickly. "You are asking about me? You  just  got outed but — "

"This is all my fault! If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't be in danger!"

"That's a lie, Parker," MJ said  firmly, leaving no room for debate. "This is Mysterio's fault."

Peter was about to reply that it was his fault for trusting a liar but a tingling sensation on the back of his neck and a heavy knock on the door interrupted him.

"Open up! This is the NYPD and we are here for Peter Parker!" said a voice from the other side of the door.

"I need to get out of here," said Peter, paralyzed, his legs refusing to move. His life was over. He had only wanted to be a good enough superhero and now he was going to jail for the rest of his days were all his potential would be wasted. He would leave May, MJ and Ned alone. Supervillains that hated Spider-Man would surely go after them and he wouldn't be there to protect them. It wouldn't matter that he helped defeat Thanos — that Mr Stark had _died_ to bring him back — he was going to be treated like a criminal. 

And there was no way Mr Stark could be proud of a criminal. He had dragged this problem onto himself and it was his fault. He wasn't going to become the next Iron man and Mr Stark's legacy would disappear marking him as a total disappointment. And as such he would die there, unable to do anything, ever.

"I'm sorry but legally you can't touch him," said a voice Peter was very familiar with from the other side — Pepper Potts. "The judge says there will be a trial, but until then, you can't open that door or you will be facing my lawyers in court."

That seemed to work like a charm and when the door opened moments later only Pepper was standing on the corridor.

"Mrs Potts!" Peter said still with his suit on since he hadn't been able to change, but was finally able to _breathe,_ something he noticed he had stopped doing when the police knocked. "How — ?"

Pepper stepped inside, closing the door behind her as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "May called me as soon as she saw the news, and I made a few calls on your behalf. The trial's this Saturday so I hope you don't have plans this weekend."

Peter found himself unable to form a coherent sentence while tears started to leak from his eyes, trying to say something along the lines of 'thank you' and 'my life is a mess'. The corner of Pepper's lips twitched upwards, he had reminded her of Tony for a second; the expression he wore after having a panic attack was almost identical to Peter's.

"Hi," MJ said, introducing herself to the powerful lady, "my name's MJ, I'm Peter's girlfriend. I'm glad you're helping him out."

"I'm Pepper and, don't worry, it's no problem at all." Pepper offered her one of her patented loving smiles, then turned to Peter. "Peter, please tell me that you used Tony's design to do your suit."

Peter nodded. "I didn't have time to do it from scratch so I modified a couple of things. Why?"

"Because every suit Tony's ever made has a camera that records 24/7. Still, we'll need every person that can testify on your behalf."

"Well, there was Happy, MJ, Ned, Betty and, um, Flash," Peter said, praying that Flash would testify for him. If not for him, at least for Spider-Man.

"That will do," Pepper affirmed. She kissed his forehead and bid her goodbyes, promising to contact them as soon as any new light appeared on the case.

Peter passed out not long after that.


	2. Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just Flash's POV of what happened that day.

It had started as a normal day, that day. Once he was fully awakened and taken a shower, Flash started scrolling for news or photos about Spider-Man, his favourite super-hero. It wasn't like anyone would know if he missed breakfast; his sister wasn't an early riser and would assume he had already eaten, his mother was off to work, and his father didn't care shit for him — not that he minded, he didn't care shit for him either.

He was browsing on Twitter when one of his favourite's fan Spider-Man accounts retweeted a link to an article named _"Spider-Man's Identity Revealed, This Will Shock You!"_. Flash nearly fell off his bed in surprise.

Quickly, he read the article saying that his identity had been _exposed_ , meaning Spider-Man didn't reveal it willingly, which sucked. The guy had worked very hard to keep it a secret. They were invading his favourite super-hero' privacy! That didn't mean he didn't finish it, all the world knew about, it wouldn't've made a difference if he did too.

At first, he thought he read that way wrong, that sometimes happened. He clicked on the video below and found himself unable to speak for five solid minutes.

He was Peter Parker.

This favourite super-hero was the kid he bullied when they were twelve! And the guy he kind of bullied _until now_!

If the guy had wanted, he could've broken the wall with Flash's head! He had super strength but he never used it against him.

Except for that time in the trip to Europe when he slapped his face off and Flash dropped out unconscious. He had been surprised at Parker's strength, now it all made sense. Sort of. The whole situation was weird.

He recalled overhearing Parker saying to Leeds how his luck was always the worse. _Yeah,_ he remembered himself thinking bitterly, _genius intellect with straight A's, maybe a Stark intern, he clearly has rotten luck._

He did remember him slightly wincing in pain but he thought he must have tripped.

Yeah, now he figured he got injured in a fight with a criminal. That didn't change the fact that the kid had spider-powers all along. While he was thinking that he was the perfect student, Peter Parker was really a kid genius with straight A grades, a Stark intern, perfect behaviour, friends that weren't jerks, a loving family, super strength, sticky powers, flexibility, popularity and tech left for him by Tony Stark himself. Perfect student and awesome super-hero. His luck couldn't be more perfect, honestly.

The thing that really bothered him, though, was the news stating that Spider-Man was a villain that commanded the drones attack. It was a lie. He had been there. Spider-Man even told the guy that worked for him to get them to safety. And Peter Parker wasn't the type of person that would harm others on purpose — he was envious that the guy as Spider-Man and as himself always managed to do the right thing. He always stood up to the bad guys — stood up to Flash himself. 

He couldn't imagine himself standing up to his father and that didn't make him like Parker one bit.

His phone started to vibrate, bringing him back to reality.

"Hello?"

"Hello, am I speaking to Eugene Thompson?" said a voice he was not prepared to hear at the other side of the phone.

"Y — yes," he squeaked.

"Hello, I'm Pepper Potts and I need you to testify on what happened in Europe."

"Parker's innocent," he blurted.

He could somehow feel the powerful woman smiling at the other end of the line. "I know. Peter told me you could testify in his favour." 

Flash stayed silent, Pepper took it as an opportunity to continue talking. "The trial is this weekend, and it would mean the world to me — the world to _Peter_ if you did it."

Despite everything, Flash thought, Parker had risked his life to save him, multiple times. It was the least he could do.

"Yeah," Flash said, his voice was surprisingly calm, "I'll do it." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, from now on they should be longer


	3. Trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a lawyer so I'm getting inspired by TV series to get the trial chapter done.//Sorry I'm posting it again but I noticed a few spelling and style errors, my inner perfectionist had to correct them. There is no new information though but you are welcome to read it again.

For Flash, Parker's trial started to seem more real as soon as stepped on the place. Sure — Flash had seen it many times on TV, but it never crossed his mind he would be going to one of these.

He noticed he wasn't the only one called to defend Parker; the man that worked for him (whose name he kept forgetting), Ned Leeds, MJ, Betty Brant, Parker's aunt, Pepper Potts, Iron Patriot without the suit and a blond guy he had never seen in his life were there too.

When they called Parker to the dais, Flash's heart skipped a beat. Yes, the guy was a super-hero, but, when Parker got nervous, his words tended up coming out in the wrong way or he'd do something definitely stupid.

"Are you really Spider-Man? asked the lawyer. "Many people have claimed to be Spider-Man over the years, even though only one of them got the attention the others craved."

"Yes," Parker said softly looking down, deciding to ignore the second comment.

"Can you prove it? Here, in front of the jury on this very day, can you?"

Parker nodded hesitantly after looking around. "Can I stand up?" he asked the judge who agreed to his request.

He walked slowly until he was in front of a wall. Nobody understood what he was trying to do until he punched the wall. The place rumbled and if everyone's eyes weren't on Parker before, they were now. The guy had singlehandedly almost made a hole in the cement and brick wall.

Parker shook his hand and massaged his knuckles a bit before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. He raised his gaze to meet with the judge's incredulous look, and said, "Um, yeah, I have the ... super-strength ... as you can see. Sorry for ... your wall."

Flash knew Spider-Man also had sticky powers but no, Parker had to _break_ a wall a fucking wall. And as soon as the press got a hold of the information they were sure to make it seem as if he had threatened them or had no regard of public property. A stupid move from Parker, really.

"Is it true that Tony Stark left you with access to that technology? Did he gave you the drones that caused the attack on London?"

Parker grimaced. "Yes, but — "

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, there you have it. Spider-Man was responsible for the attacks, and if we don't take that tech back, he could use it for mass destruction," the lawyer interrupted him. "Imagine! Millions of people, dead, because we feared Tony Stark's legacy!"

"I didn't call the drones to attack anybody!" Parker shouted, clearly angry that she was twisting his words. It was a little bit frightening, you didn't see Parker angry every day. Annoyed, sure, not _angry_. "The video of me doing it is fake!"

"Then who did it?!"

"Mysterio!" he shouted as if it was the most logical thing in the world. "He was never from another dimension! Mrs Potts has the documents to prove what I am saying! He used to work for Mr Stark! But even he could say that he was unstable so he fired him! Mysterio and the Elementals were always a lie! He never existed!"

"And how, my dear Mr Parker, did Mysterio get a hold of that system? Wasn't it left under your protection?"

Parker gritted his teeth. "I gave it to him. H — he was a great liar and he fooled me..." Parker's voice softened on the border of breaking. If Flash didn't know better, he would say that he was trying not to cry. "I am really sorry that it came to that. I... I am just a teenager and suddenly everyone wanted me to be the next Iron man. It was too much pressure and Mysterio knew exactly that. He took _advantage_ of that."

"And you killed him for that," she concluded, still trying to pin him for something.

"No." This time, his voice was firm, cold, and unwavering. "He commanded the drones to attack me. Maybe he didn't care he was on the line of fire as long as I was the target... but one of them hit him. He died from bloodloss trying to shoot me."

The lawyer didn't ask any more questions, thankfully, probably scared of Parker if he got really angry, something neither Flash wanted to see. Parker's lawyer was up next and started by calling Mrs Parker to talk. Then she called Pepper Potts, and Leeds, and MJ, and Brant, and the guy that worked for Parker (whose name she said was Happy Hogan), and the blond guy (whose name was Harley Keener). They all said that Parker couldn't have done what Jameson accused him of. In Keener's words _"he can't even kill a spider without feeling guilty. If anyone is the evil genius here, it's me. And even I don't want to exterminate humanity"_.

Flash's turn came up next. But it was the other lawyer that called on to him. _Just his luck._

"What is your relationship with Mr Parker? Are you friends?" asked she.

"N — not really, I just... just see him in school. We are classmates," he stammered.

The lawyer tried to hide her smirk. "I was informed you were with Mr Hogan, Mr Leeds, Ms Brant and Ms Jones when the drones attacked London. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"How would you describe the situation unfolding?"

"Well," he hesitated, unsure where and how to begin, "I was doing a live stream on the bus when the big thing started to attack everything and got out of the bus to seek refuge. We were lucky that the bus exploded after we had abandoned it. Then, Mysterio and the thing he's fighting turned out to be holograms that disappeared leaving only the drones. Spider-Man was trying to get into ... a tower or something but the drones kept aiming at him." Flash stopped recounting the events to organize his thoughts. "That man-" he pointed a finger at the guy whose name he had forgotten, again, "-appeared. MJ, Leeds and Brant followed him. I figured I would rather be anywhere else than there so I followed them. Leeds seemed to know him, though I think he was the only one. The man told us he worked for Spider-Man and was getting us to safety but his jet exploded so we had to find another way to get out of the drones' vision. We hid in a museum... if I remember correctly and when we were about to die the drones deactivated. I knew it had to be Spider-Man, it's honestly not the first time he has saved me — us."

"That's quite the story. Next question; aren't you the owner of the account _SpiderBites_ on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr? The Spider-Man fan account with most followers on the Internet?"

Flash averted his eyes, suddenly very interested in his nails. He didn't want to see the look on Parker's face. "Yes," he replied using everything in him to sound calm and not pass out from embarrassment.

"How do we know you aren't protecting your favourite super-hero?"

"You can watch the video if you'd like, it's on the Internet after all," Flash spat. "Parker isn't some crazed-ass super-villain you are trying to make him."

Iron Patriot was the next on the line, fortunately being asked questions by the one on Parker's side.

"He is a good kid. I believe in him — _Tony_ believed in him. I refuse to say anything else," he finally stated before the court passed onto the evidence.

* * * * *

"We have found the accused, Peter Parker, innocent of all charges."

* * * * *

The paparazzi kept harassing them with photos and questions as soon as they set a foot outside the place. Pepper Potts and Iron Patriot gave a brief declaration about the events, and warned off anyone who might have planned to stalk Parker or any acquaintance of him; they would be sued by roughly a million dollars. Unless, of course, the photos or interviews had been with _Spider-Man_ with his full consent or after something big (like Parker's trial) and they would need photos to put on the papers. They would only be permitted to post a specific quantity and could not change or alter the facts. All in all, Flash thought this was the best deal Parker would ever get.

He was glad that Mrs Potts had arranged them limousines to get them home safely, he couldn't trust his father to give him a ride home and his mother was doing everything in her power to get the divorce papers. Plus, the ride with his driver wouldn't be anything if not awkward and boring.

Mrs Potts was going with Iron Patriot, Parker's aunt and Keener. He was going with Leeds, Brant, MJ and Parker, the guy that worked for him went as a chauffeur with them.

Parker was holding hands with MJ, both clearly happy about the outcome. They were animatedly chatting (just as Leeds was with Brant) when Parker shot him a comment.

"Flash," he smiled, he _always_ smiled, "thanks for coming and talking in my defence."

Flash was glad he hadn't mentioned his Spider-Man accounts. Then, he remembered, this was Peter Parker, _of course_ he was not going to mock him. The guy didn't have a single mean bone in his body, regardless of Flash's behaviour towards him. "It wasn't a big deal," he huffed.

"It was for me though," he admitted. "I think had it not been for you... not as many would have voted for me."

Flash's eyes widened. That just wasn't possible, Parker was only saying that to be nice.

"Since we aren't... actually friends, I believe they considered you a less biased party," Parker explained.

Flash nodded, even he didn't believe him. It was still a nice thought that he was saved because of him. It was something like redeeming himself — or as close as Flash would ever get. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes I may commit, English is not my first language.


	4. Back to school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how but this story was supposed to be told from Peter's point of view. Now Flash is going to tell the story too.

If someone had told Flash five months ago that Peter Parker of all people was Spider-man, Flash was absolutely sure he would have punched them for trying to compare Parker to Spider-man. Now, though, wasn't five months ago. He hadn't really interacted with Parker after they dropped him off on his home but everytime there was trouble and Flash was nearby, he would wave to him regardless if he was filming or not. So that was nice.

Going back to school after all that happened during the holidays sure was challenging but nothing he couldn't manage.

As soon as Parker entered the school grounds, a swarm of people, students and teachers alike, surrounded him to ask about his holidays, his well-being, his fancy friends or if he had had any more trouble with the law. A bunch of bootlickers if they asked him.

The majority of them hadn't bat an eyelash when Flash insulted him before. Some even created the most creative of them. But now they were practically worshipping the ground he stepped on.

He was able to identify Leeds in between the tumult trying to get to Parker with no avail.

Flash huffed, it was really up to him, wasn't it?

"Move!" he commanded once he was close enough for them to hear him.

They looked at themselves hesitantly before pulling away, not without yelling "I love you!" and "Call me!" most of them. Of course they did as he told them. Everyone knew his family was the biggest donor of the school and that his mother was one of the big bosses from Oscorp, meaning that if they refused to do what he commanded, they could get in trouble with school and the second biggest company after Stark Industries.

"Thank you, Flash," Parker smiled at him, grateful, before his expression turning into frustration. "They are going to be like that until I graduate, aren't they." It wasn't phrased as a question.

"Probably, dude," Leeds said not helping at all.

"Not if you kick their butt," Flash suggested, "you could."

Parker grimaced. "I'm not gonna do that Flash."

"Thought as much though, trust me, it will," Flash said knowing from experience.

"I know," he said softly.

"...sorry." Shit. Flash had forgotten for a brief moment that Parker used to be the target for most of his bullying. "I'm gonna go now Parker, try not to attract too many attention."

And he was gone.

But it had been nice, talking to him like any other human being.

***

New year meant new rumours crossing the hallways. Flash couldn't say he paid attention to them because it would be a lie. He couldn't care less of high school drama. But this year something caught his interest.

"The scary girl broke up with Spider-man!"

Flash furrowed his eyebrows. Was the rumour a real one?

Coincidentally, MJ happened to be walking near enough to hear what was being said. "Don't you have anything more interesting in you lives than to talk about the lives of others?!"

Flash ran up to her. "Hey, Flash," said she, clearly not in the mood for the conversation.

Still, he had to know. "Is the rumour that you broke up with Parker true? Or is it just bullshit?"

She sighed. "It's true. Turns out, romantic relationships were difficult to me because I'm not the sort of person that wants to be in any romantic relationship."

"So you never liked Parker?"

"Don't say it like that, but yeah. I like him like a friend and because he is my closest and first friend, I misinterpreted my feelings."

Flash nodded. "Okay."

"And why do you care?" MJ's question caught him off guard.

"I... I don't know," he replied surprising himself. "Maybe because he just suffered a huge trauma thanks to Mysterio. Honestly, the illusions he described were terrifying, and he said they were the least horrifying of them. He's been antsy all summer, probably expecting Beck to jump up his ass anytime now."

Now it was MJ's turn to be confused. "How do you know — ?"

"Remember my fan pages?" He blushed at the mention of his fan accounts for Spider-man. "I have a lot of videos of him — "

"Creep."

" — before and after the Mysterio incident. There is a clear difference between the two of them, and, if you consider what he said at court, it's pretty obvious."

She looked at him weirdly and hummed a good-bye.


	5. Project

Science class was mostly a pain in Flash's ass. It's not that he disliked science, but because the teacher decided to give a monologue of half an hour on why being Spider-man wouldn't get Parker leeway on falling behind in his class, and that even if he had been cleared of all charges, he would still be keeping an eye on him. Once he finished, he decided to turn to Parker's seat, probably to threaten him personally or to make a final remark when he noticed that Parker had never arrived at his class.

Flash, along with great part of the class, burst of laughter at his teacher's face of embarrassment.

The only good thing that came from all of it, was that Flash managed to capture his face and part of his monologue on camera, and post it on Snapchat.

Just when the class was ending, Parker entered breathlessly through the window. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was tousled, making him look as if he had just woke up and simultaneously ran a marathon. But somehow still not able to sleep a wink, if the bags under his eyes said anything.

"Sorry for the delay," he said, walking towards his empty seat and putting his bag on the table. "I got caught up at a robbery and had to help a baby find his parents." He sat with an innocent and kind smile on his face, unaware of the anger coming from the teacher.

The teacher proceeded to explain a project in five minutes, telling them it was going to be delivered in pairs. The bell rang as soon as he finished saying that and everyone rushed to leave the room and not see the teacher's face until next class. Unfortunately, the teacher had other plans for Flash and Parker.

"Don't think I didn't see you with that camera before, Thompson, stay behind. Parker, you too."

That was when Flash knew something terrible was going to happen.

"Is something wrong, Mr Anderson?" Parker asked politely.

"Everyone is welcomed to choose their partner for the project, all but you two. You will work together and be glad that I am not giving any of you detention," he said with a nasty scowl.

Poor Parker looked confused and seemed to be reflecting on what of his past actions had been so bad that required detention. He most likely found none as he was starting to ask what he had done. 

"Sure, Mr Anderson. See you, next class," Flash was quick to cut him off. Grabbing Parker by the shoulders, he led the way to the halls.

"Do you know what he was talking about?" Parker asked once Flash stopped manhandling him. 

"Long story short, Parker: he doesn't like Spiderman," Flash sighed.

"Oh," Parker eloquently said. He looked embarrassed to his feet for a moment before clearing his throat when the silence became awkward. "Well, we should coordinate what is the project going to be. Is 8 an acceptable hour? I'll message you, and I, uh, I'll bring the materials for the experiment."

"Yeah, works for me, but I can dam well bring my materials you know?" Flash didn't mean it to sound _that_ aggressive but it came out a little wrong.

"Oh! I know! It's just that I most likely have them in my lab as I work with various chemicals and materials at the compound and with my suit. We wouldn't have to buy anything," Parker explained quickly.

Flash nodded and Parker turned to walk away before Flash took a grip on his arm. Not hard enough to hurt him but enough for him to turn around.

"You don't have my number, Parker."

"Sorry, I forgot."

"You seem a little off, Parker. Is everything okay?" Flash asked with an honest concern he didn't know he had.

Peter's eyes were cast down. "Today is, uh," he started saying softly, Flash had only heard that type of soft in movies when people were trying not to cry, "today is Tony's birthday."

It took Flash a second to figure out who was that Tony guy that made Parker so miserable.

"Anyway," Parker said, taking advantage of Flash silence, "talk to you later!"

He ran off and by the end of the day, Flash had the impression he had started to avoid him. Most likely too embarrassed about showing any sign of weakness in front of him. And he couldn't blame him. When he was twelve, he would have mocked him for that. A couple of months back he wouldn't because he was suffering and mourning someone he cared about and Flash was a decent human being. Barely but still. He would have ignored it and mock him for something else after a couple of days.

This Flash felt helpless for some reason he didn't understand. He didn't like the guy, the fact that he was Spiderman had not altered that. But he was _Spiderman,_ and Spiderman was one of the toughest people Flash knew. And Parker had looked so, so tired.

* * *

_Flash: hey answer me a question_

_MJ: what do you want_

_Flash: give me parker's address_

_MJ: that isn't a question_

_Flash: please_

_MJ: why do you want it anyway?_

_MJ: and why me? you could just ask him_

_Flash: we are partners in a project_

_Flash: you are probs the only one that doesn't hate me_

_Flash: and that dumbass forgot to give me his number_

_MJ: ok that's fair_

Flash suppressed a grin as he saw the next message containing Parker's address. 

* * *

Flash knocked on the wooden door of a simple apartment and waited for a response. He heard someone yell " _I'm coming!_ " from the inside, a couple of seconds later he was greeted by a woman that was probably in her fifties. She frowned and that's when Flash recognised her as Parker's aunt.

"Hello, I am Flash, one of P- Peter's classmates. I am here for a project... I'm not sure if you remember — "

"Of course I remember you! You testified for Peter! I am really thankful for that, and sure, come on in," she welcomed him with a smile. "Call me, May. Peter is in his room — the second door at the left."

Flash entered and followed suit the instructions to Paker's room. The door was open so he didn't have to knock. 

"Hello, Parker," he said as he came in and gently placed his backpack on the desk.

"Oh, Flash," Parker said as he stopped playing with Lego figurines. "I, uh, thought we were going to do it over the phone?"

"Change of plans," he declared. He opened his backpack and took a vanilla ice cream can our of it, along with two big spoons. "I didn't know what flavour you usually eat but you can't go wrong with vanilla."

Parker tilted his head in confusion. "What is going on?"

Oh my, what an idiot.

"You were feeling awful today — don't even bother denying it. You never really gave me your number so I decided to come, eat ice cream, and do that project."

"Why —?"

"I don't know. Now, stop asking questions and let's see some crappy movies. We still have a lot of time to see what we are going to do."

Parker looked at him weirdly as if thinking that everything was a big joke, then he smiled radiantly and nodded. 

* * *

Flash had to admit that he had had fun with Parker that night. It had been odd at first since he didn't even like him but soon he found himself relaxing more and more into his company. 


	6. Friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if this requires a warning but there is a brief panic attack at the beginning. It is also implied that Peter suffers from PTSD from the symptoms.
> 
> Also, I am only posting it again because I forgot to put on a title.

Once upon a time, Flash had thought that Peter Parker's life was easy, or, at least, easier than his. Even up until a week ago he had the gall to think such a thing. Truth was, as he had worked on that project with Peter — he had insisted after the first day that Flash appeared in his home for Flash to him by his first name — that he had been dead wrong. Of course, it wasn't like his life was easier but he didn't need to constantly worry about villains harming his loved ones or about having a bullet through his head.

Peter was clearly traumatized with whatever had happened in space and in the final battle with the Avengers against Thanos. Every time Flash had asked him for the details of it in a feeble attempt to make small talk, Peter would close off and, sometimes, start shouting at him, so he quickly understood that that was an off-limits topic. His anxiety had increased and one time he started hyperventilating while looking at the night sky through his bedroom's window. That time, he kept muttering about not going ever again to someplace or something like that that frightened Flash so much that he had to call for his aunt. Another time Peter simply stated that he couldn't breathe with a panicked looked and Flash had to ask Google for help as May was not home.

_("What's that sound?" Peter asked like a deer in headlights to his partner, who was trying to calculate the formula for their work to be considered valid._

_"Sorry, it's just my alarm," Flash shrugged it off, not noticing the tone of Peter's voice nor his trembling but managing to see him standing up from their comfortable position in the couch. "Don't worry about it, it'll just go away. And get your ass back in here that I am not doing this alone, you know."_

_Peter blinked, trying to regulate his uneven breath but failing miserably, increasing his heart rate and his anxiety. "Flash... I..."_

_Flash groaned. He didn't really need Peter help — he was trying to procrastinate a little. Plus, he really wanted Peter's input on how to resolve it — curious as to how his mind would solve this issue. "What?" he asked bored as he looked up at a Peter with a terrified expression on his face._

_He wasn't breathing, he realised._

_Suddenly his whole demeanour changed and he jumped from the couch to be at Peter's level._

_"... can't... breathe..."_

_"Just-! Um, breathe? Try to relax, okay? Focus on..." — he grabbed the control at his feet and turned on the TV — "that, while I ask Google..."_

_Damn it! Why was Peter's aunt not here? Not relevant right now but he had seen her help Peter through one episode similar before. What had May called that? A... panic attack? He hoped it was that as he typed_ 'panic attack tips' _and scrolled through the first article as quickly as he could._

_"Okay, so," he said looking directly at Peter and mentally scratching one of the steps, "you are having a panic attack, right? So, just, here says that you have to breathe as deeply as you can. You can do that right? I've seen you lift busses so I know you can handle a little bit of air. Here says '_ breathe in for a count of four, hold for a second, and then breathe out for a count of four'. _"_

_Flash stopped reading to see if anything he was saying was doing anything to help the situation and relax visibly when Peter took in shaky breaths._

_"Close you eyes," he continued, "the alarm is already off but, just in case, let's, how does this phrased it, reduce visual stimuli. Is it... is it working?"_

_Peter gave him a trembling smile that was supposed to be reassuring, it wasn't the best but it was a smile nonetheless. "Yeah..." he said, his breathing pattern more stable even if he continued with the eyes closed._

_Flash collapsed heavily onto the couch and tried to make out what the news channel on theTV was saying. Something about a blackout of an entire block, again? He wasn't sure. But at least Peter was okay now.)_

Flash had always been jealous of Peter, thinking that he didn't appreciate everything he had, constantly whining about the bad and that, mixed with his immature brain, were the reason he started bullying him. He felt powerful that way, invincible, and perhaps happy in a way he could never at home with his father. As he started maturing, he noticed that it was a stupid way to express himself but old habits die hard and he hadn't put that much effort in breaking them then.

He was now, though. 

A lot of things had changed after the Blip: his mother had continued her life as a single mother raising his younger sister (who was now a year older than him) until she married again, his parents were getting an official divorce (since his father had also reappeared with the rest of the world), the people who had badmouthed Tony Stark or any of the Avengers (but mostly Stark) could not say a single thing bad about them as the universe worshipped them now, phones could make holographic video calls (first implemented by, obviously, Stark Industries), more than half of the billionaires had died (since when they saw the space shift they tried to get out of the country and if then they weren't blipped, the pilots of their private jets were) reducing the pollution, and now he was willing to be a friend to Peter Parker. And it only took one week of working in a project together.

* * *

"Flash," said Peter to him once while they were taking a break after almost finishing their project, "remember my trial? Where you, uh, told everyone you had several Spider-man fan accounts?" Peter's cheek's reddened as did Flash's though for different reasons.

"...please don't tell me you checked them out," said Flash totally embarrassed. Saying he had a lot of videos, photos, edits and fanarts of Peter's alter-ego was an understatement. He had even written a couple of one-shots in his Tumblr account. 

"I mean," Peter started ranting with his hands in the air as if he had been caught which was the confirmation Flash needed to further his embarrassment, "I had seen your Instagram and Twitter accounts before I knew they were yours and I was curious about the rest of them since the attorney said they were very famous. Plus! They are about me so you can't exactly get angry as they were on the Internet and I have every right to —!"

"I am not angry, just embarrassed," Flash confessed. "But, please get to the point."

That seemed to calm down Peter a bit as he flashed him a little smile. "I mean, it's flattering that you spend so much time and effort in it and- you know what? I'm getting sidetracked. I was wondering if it was okay if you could arrange, um, like an interview of sorts? Like, you send a post or something about me — _Spider-man_ asking for questions he can answer live but nothing too personal or else, well, Mrs Potts might get her lawyers involved if people suddenly appeared at my home."

Flash's eyes widened in surprise. "Um, ah, yes! Of course!" Flash managed to say, stuttering and tripping over the longer sentences but quickly became quite uncomfortable and curious. "Why me though? Despite being... nice to each other is not like we are friends or anything."

Peter's face fell and Flash felt as miserable as if he had kicked a puppy. "I... I thought that at least after Tony's birthday we were... I- I am sorry, I misunderstood, well, everything. You are right. We are noth—"

"NO!" Flash interrupted perhaps a little too loud. "I mean- it's just- ah! We are? You never really said anything and I thought you were just being nice to me because that's literally who you are. I- I mean..." Flash decided to stop to sort out his thoughts and, if possible, take a deep breath before opening his mouth again.

He sighed. "Look, Peter, I thought you were nice to me because I helped you in your trial and you didn't want to be ungrateful even though I've been pretty shitty to you before... well, everything, but I would really like to be your friend. And I am sorry I was such an ass, like, in general."

Peter beamed at him.

Flash grinned. "I still think you are a little dipshit but like with love, you know?"

Despite it not being that funny, Peter laughed so hard (bending to his knees and everything) that it made Flash laugh too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The real plot will start next chapter so stay tuned!
> 
> Also, here is the link with the information Flash used in the flashback just in case anyone here needs it: https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-stop-a-panic-attack#happy-place


End file.
